Frequent releases: The pace of innovation within the Linux community was faster than any other free software project at the time.

“The fact that I didn’t really know where it would end up meant that I was perhaps more open to outside suggestions and influence than I would have been if I had a very good idea of what I wanted to accomplish,” he said.

Torvalds said people didn’t have to sign on to somebody else’s vision, but could join with their own vision of where things should go.